Wallingford Beach given ‘enough’ water score

A well-liked swimming space for households on the banks of the River Thames has been given a “sufficient” water high quality score.

Designated bathing water website Wallingford Beach, in Oxfordshire, was rated “poor” by the the Environment Agency (EA) in 2024.

The standing meant the company had been monitoring the wonder spot’s water high quality to guard folks’s well being.

A Thames Water spokesperson stated: “We welcome the news that Wallingford Beach has been rated ‘sufficient’ in this year’s Bathing Water Quality Report, the only river bathing site in the country to receive this designation.”

The 35m-long (115 ft) stretch is on the financial institution of the Thames, downstream from Wallingford Bridge.

The water on the fashionable swimming space was sampled 20 instances between May and the tip of September, and the EA stated that it now met the “minimum standard for bathing”.

South Oxfordshire District Councillor, Jo Robb stated, “While this classification is an improvement on last year, which is to be celebrated, a rating of ‘sufficient’ means there is still a lot to do to reach ‘excellent’ where the water is clean and of the highest quality.

“We are counting on the Environment Agency and Thames Water working collectively to establish sources of air pollution and take motion to remove these, for the nice of all river customers and our wildlife.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We will proceed to work intently with the Environment Agency and native companions to know the place enhancements to our belongings is perhaps required in future, in order that communities can proceed to benefit from the bathing water.”